Yum-yum indeed

I tried Yum-Yum Thai restaurant off Harrison Ave in Cary a couple of weeks ago and it was so good I had to go back! I am happy to report that the food was just as good the second time around, although the dining experience was slightly disrupted by a burning truck in the parking lot. Quite the drama! Luckily no other cars or people were hurt.

I had the fresh basil rolls and a basil-tofu stir fry - both pictured above. My friend had the eggplant stir-fry the first time, and another friend chose the Pad Thai the second time. They kindly let me sample and I was delighted. The ingredients were fresh, and the food tasted very good. None of that over-creamy, bland taste that some other chain "Thai" restaurants try to fool you with. The only minor quibble I had was that the food wasn't hot enough for my taste - but that was easily remedied by a couple of squirts of Sriracha hot sauce. Also, I thought the stir-fry dishes were a bit on the sweet side, but that is a matter of personal taste I suppose.

It's a surprising find, tucked away in a corner of an unassuming strip mall. But worth the drive given the dearth of really good Thai restaurants in downtown Raleigh where I work. The atmosphere was fairly quiet and the service quick and friendly both times. You do sometimes have to wave the waitress down, but this doesn't bother me since its pretty common in Southeast Asia. I've never been there for dinner , but for a catch-up lunch with friends or a business lunch, Yum-yum thai lives up to its name!

Farewell, summer garden!

Every spring for the last 10 years, we have planted a vegetable garden. Some years are more successful than others, and different plants yield different results each year. The end of the summer, when the garden stops producing, is always a reflective time for me: it heralds the shorter days, the coming of cold nights, and I brace myself to make it through the winter until the weather is warm again next spring to start the garden.

This year, I grew bitter melon (Paavakkai/ karela/ bitter gourd) for the first time. My grandmother used to grow them along the back chicken wire fence at our home in Malaysia and it was effortless to get them to yield fruit. Here in North Carolina, the results were mixed - beautiful healthy plants, lots of yellow flowers, but the fruits were late to form. When they did form, they were smaller than expected, but still have that lovely bitter flavor. Yes, it is an acquired taste!

Garden winners this year: Spring lettuce, Bitter melon, cucumbers, cayenne peppers, okra, bush beans, and basil.

Garden losers: zucchini, bell peppers, yellow squash, and for the first time ever, our tomatoes were losers, because of the $#@*! tobacco hornworm.

I'm enjoying the last weeks of summer, when our garden puts forth its supreme, final effort to yield farewell gifts to us from Mother Earth.

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Soap-acho! (Gazpacho)

The logical thing to do when it's high summer and you have foolishly bought forty-two tomatoes, is to make Gazpacho. Much as I love this classic cold tomato soup, I have never tried to make it, because I'm always afraid it won't taste as good as the ones I get in the restaurants. Armed with my cooked tomatoes from the Great Tomato Experience, and fresh cucumbers, bell peppers, and basil from my garden, I decided to chance it.

I turned to my trusty Betty Crocker Newlyweds Edition cookbook and modified good old Betty's recipe. It was amazing and delicious. I must have eaten three bowls full.

The children loved putting everything in the food processor and they actually both enjoyed eating it. Even the child who won't eat anything runny or saucy. The three year old calls it Soap-acho! So that's what we've all started calling it too.

Here's how I made it (and I know there are hundreds of recipes out there for soap-acho):
Cut up some whole wheat bread (about 3-4 slices) or fancy bread if you have it, into cubes. Sautee in olive oil to make croutons.
In food processor, use the low setting to process till desired consistency:
4 cups tomatoes, peeled and cooked (or 2 cans of whole tomatoes)
1 small cucumber, (I peeled off the skin but you don't have to)
1 small green capsicum pepper, seeds and stem removed
about 1/4 cup very good quality olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (or more!)
2 tablespoons cooking sherry or white wine
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
half of the croutons
handful fresh basil

That's it! I was so greedy for it I didn't even bother chilling it further - the tomatoes were already cold. I drizzled some more olive oil in each bowl, topped with a handful of croutons, and guzzled it down. Yummmm SOAP-ACHO!